Report Claims 512MB of RAM for iPad 2’s A5 CPU

There was a great deal of hand-wringing in the tech community after Wednesday’s iPad 2 announcement over just how much memory the refreshed tablet contains in its diminutive frame. While many are speculating, a semiconductor analyst out of Korea claims to know for sure.

AppleInsider is reporting that the iPad 2’s A5 processor comes packing 512MB of memory, the same as the current iPhone 4 and double that of last year’s iPad. RAM has been a subject of some debate in tech circles, particularly after the iOS 4.2.1 update last fall which often made the first-gen iPad feel sluggish at times, such as during a heavy multitasking session.

“Responding to a query about the amount of RAM in the iPad 2, analyst Kakeun Lee claimed on Twitter that the new iPad will double the amount of RAM in last year's model,” AppleInsider reports. “He also revealed that the new A5 processor features LPDDR2 memory, which is a speed boost from the LPDDR1 RAM in the first-generation iPad.”

If true, the iPad 2 will sweep into battle next Friday, March 11 against the likes of the Android 3.0 Honeycomb-powered Motorola XOOM, which boats a full 1GB of RAM. Be that as it may, early hands-on reports claim that the iPad 2 is quite the little speed demon, and even with memory-intensive tasks such as nine different live Photo Booth images displayed at once during yesterday’s demo, the iPad 2 managed to keep up without a problem.

Apple isn’t saying how much RAM the iPad 2 will have, although you can bet that by next Friday evening we’ll know for sure after the device gets torn apart and its guts displayed for all to see.